FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2B show a cassette container in which an opening 3 is formed at the side of an outer case 2 of a video camera main body 1. A video tape recorder 4 is vertically incorporated in the outer case 2, i.e., in the inner part of the space communicating with the opening 3. The video tape recorder 4 can perform recording and playback on two kinds of tape cassettes, i.e., a large-size tape cassette 11 and a small-size tape cassette 12, that are selectively mounted in the cassette container. As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, 4A-4B, 5, and 6, the large-size tape cassette 11 and the small-size tape cassette 12 are approximately similar to each other in shape and incorporate a magnetic tape 14 that is wound on a pair of tape reels 13 (arranged in the right-left direction). The magnetic tape 14 is wound so as to traverse, in the right-left direction, a central opening 15 that is formed at the center on the side of a front end 11a or 12a of the large-size or small-size tape cassette 11 or 12. A double opening/closing lid 16 that opens and closes so as to enclose the magnetic tape 14 from the front and rear in the central opening 15 is attached to the front end 11a or 12a.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1B, 2A-2B, 5-7, a mechanical deck 21 of the video tape recorder 4 is formed vertically and mounted, in the lateral direction, with a pair of reel bases 22 (arranged in the right-left direction), a pair of positioning pins 23 (arranged in the right-left direction), a tape loading mechanism 24, a rotary head drum 25, a pair of brake drums 26 (arranged in the right-left direction), a band brake 27, a soft brake 28, a unidirectional clutch 29, and other various mechanical parts for recording and playback. A pair of reel base gears 22a (arranged in the right-left direction) which are formed on the outer circumferences of the pair of reel bases 22 at their lower ends so as to be integral with the latter always mesh with a pair of brake drum gears 26a (arranged in the right-left direction) which are formed on the outer circumferences of the pair of brake drums 26. The pair of reel bases 22 reciprocate between positions with a small interval L.sub.1 for the small-size tape cassette 12 (indicated by solid lines in FIG. 7) and positions with a large interval L.sub.2 for the large-size tape cassette 11 (indicated by chain lines in FIG. 7) in the directions of arrows a and b by making symmetrical circular movements about the pair of brake drums 26. The band brake 27 is wound on the outer circumference of the tape supply side brake drum 26 which is disposed on the tape supply side (right side in FIG. 7). The braking force of the band brake 26 is controlled by a tension regulator 24a of the tape loading mechanism 24. The soft brake 28 is in contact with the outer circumference of the tape take-up side brake drum 26 which is disposed on the tape take-up side (left side in FIG. 7). The unidirectional clutch 29 is incorporated between the tape take-up side brake drum 26 and the brake drum gear 26a that is formed on the outer circumference of the former.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the large-size and small-size tape cassettes 11 and 12 are selectively mounted into the mechanical deck 21 in parallel therewith in a vertical state with the front ends 11a and 12a down, whereby the pair of tape reels 13 are engaged with the pair of reel bases 22. At this time, the pair of positioning pins 23 cause the front end 11a or 12a and the center in the right-left direction of the large-size tape cassette 11 or the small-size tape cassette 12 to be positioned on a horizontal reference line X and a vertical reference line Y on the mechanical deck 21, respectively. After the cassette mounting, the tape loading mechanism 24 causes the magnetic tape 14 in the large-size cassette tape 11 or the small-size cassette tape 12 to be pulled out downward and loaded onto the rotary drum 25. Thus, recording or playback is performed on the magnetic tape 14 of a selected one of the large-size and small-size tape cassettes 11 and 12. During recording or a playback on the magnetic or its fast feed, the braking force of the tape supply side brake drum 26 is controlled by the band brake 27, whereby the back tension of the magnetic tape 14 is controlled to have a constant value. During rewinding, the soft brake 28 exerts weak braking force on the tape take-up side brake drum 26, whereby uncontrolled running of the magnetic tape 14 is prevented. During recording, a playback, or a fast feed, the soft brake 28 does not serve as a load because the unidirectional clutch 29 of the tape take-up side brake drum 26 is rendered in a free rotation state.
As shown in FIGS. 1A-1B to 4, 8, and 9 a pop-up cassette attaching/detaching device 33 is provided with a vertical cassette holder 34 which is configured so as to be freely entered into and removed from the outer case 2 of the video camera main body 1 in the horizontal, i.e., lateral, direction (indicated by arrows c and d) through the approximately rectangular opening 3 which is formed at the side of the outer case 2. A cassette input/output mouth 35 is formed at an upper end portion of the cassette holder 34. A door 36 for opening and closing the opening 3 of the outer case 2 is vertically attached to the side face of a top plate 34c of the cassette holder 34. The door 36 is slidable with respect to the cassette holder 34 in the top-bottom direction (indicated by arrows e and f).
The cassette holder 34 is configured so as to be reciprocated in parallel with the direction of arrows c and d by a pop-up mechanism that is attached to the mechanical deck 21. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A, when an ejection button is pushed, the cassette holder 34 is popped up in the direction of arrow c through the opening 3 to a cassette input/output position P.sub.1 which is outside the outer case 2 and the door 36 is slid downward, i.e., in the direction of arrow e, whereby the cassette input/output mouth 35 is opened widely. In this state, as described later in detail, after a selected one of the large-size and small-size tape cassettes 11 and 12 is inserted downward, i.e., in the direction of arrow e, into the cassette holder 34 through the cassette input/output mouth 35, the cassette holder 34 is pressed into a cassette mounting position P.sub.2 in the outer case 2 through the opening 3 by pushing the door 36 in the direction of arrow d as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2B. As a result, the door 36 is pressed in the direction d while being slid in the direction of arrow f, to close the opening 3.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, as a result of the above cassette mounting operation, the selected one of the large-size and small-size tape cassettes 11 and 12 are mounted into the mechanical deck 21 in the direction of arrow d so as to be orientated downward and vertically with the front end 11a or 12a and the center in the right-left direction of the tape cassette 11 or 12 located on the horizontal and vertical reference lines X and Y on the mechanical deck 21, respectively. When the large-size or small-size tape cassette 11 or 12 is ejected after recording or a playback, a reverse operation to the cassette mounting operation is performed. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A, by pushing the ejection button, the cassette holder 34 is popped up in the direction of arrow c to the cassette input/output position P.sub.1 which is outside the outer case 32 and the door 36 is slid in the direction of arrow e, whereby the cassette input/output mouth 35 is opened widely. In this state, the large-size tape cassette 11 or the small-size tape cassette 12 is removed from the cassette holder 34 upward, i.e., in the direction of arrow f.
As shown in FIGS. 1-4 and 10, the cassette holder 34 is made of sheet metal or the like and is formed so as to have an approximately bracket-shaped cross-section by a bottom plate 34b and both, i.e., right and left, side plates 34b. The cassette holder 34 is disposed vertically in parallel with the side face of the vertical mechanical deck 21, and a top end opening of the cassette holder 34 forms the cassette input/output mouth 35. The door 36 is attached to the side face of the top plate 34c bridging the open ends of both side plates 34b of the cassette holder 34 so as to be parallel with the bottom plate 34a and slidable in the top-bottom direction (indicated by arrows e and f). The bottom plate 34a of the cassette holder 34 is formed with a pair of reel base insertion holes 37 (arranged in the right-left direction) which are approximately L-shaped, opposed to each other, and formed symmetrically in movement ranges of the pair of reel bases 22 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) in the directions of arrows a and b. Lower peripheral portions, located at right and left end positions, of the bottom plate 34a is formed with, in an integral manner, a pair of large cassette stoppers 38 (arranged in the right-left direction) for locating the front end 11a and the center in the right-left direction of the large-size tape cassette 11 on the horizontal and vertical reference lines X and Y on the mechanical deck 21, respectively.
As shown in FIGS. 10-12, a pair of small cassette guides 39 (arranged in the right-left direction) which are formed by molding synthetic resin or the like and serve to locate the front end 12a and the center in the right-left direction of the small-size tape cassette 12 on the horizontal and vertical reference lines X and Y on the mechanical deck 21, respectively, are attached to the bottom plate 34a of the cassette holder 34 at positions deviated to the lower end. The pair of small cassette guides 39 are disposed parallel with the vertical reference line Y at positions equally distant from it in the right-left direction. The inside ends of a pair of symmetrical leaf springs 40 (arranged in the right-left direction) are fixed to bottom faces 39c (faces opposed to the mechanical deck 21) of the pair of small cassette guides 39 by welding or the like. The outside ends of the leaf springs 40 are fixed to bottom faces 34a" (faces opposed to the mechanical deck 21) of the bottom plate 34a by a pair of caulking pins 41. Thus, the pair of leaf springs 40 allow the small cassette guides 39 to move in the directions of arrows c and d through a pair of guide insertion holes 42 (arranged in the right-left direction) formed in the bottom plate 34a between a position that protruded, by a height H.sub.1, to the side of a top face 34a' (face on the side of the cassette insertion space) of the bottom plate 34a (see FIG. 11B) and a position that is lowered, by a height H.sub.2, to the side of the bottom face 34a" (face opposed to the mechanical deck 21) of the bottom plate 34a (see FIG. 11C).
As shown in FIGS. 11-12, each of opposed (in the right-left direction) faces 39a of the pair of small cassette guides 39 is formed, at an upper end portion, with a tapered face 43 for introducing the small-size tape cassette 12. A top surface 39b that is perpendicular to each opposed face 39a is formed with a slant face 44 at an upper end portion. As shown in FIG. 11A, the length of protrusion of the pair of small cassette guides 39 to the side of the top face 34a' of the bottom plate 34a is restricted such that stopper pieces 45 that are formed at upper portions of the bottom face 39c of the small cassette guides 39 so as to be integral with the latter butt against the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a in the direction of arrow c. A pair of small cassette stoppers 46 for locating the front end 12a of the small-size tape cassette 12 at the horizontal reference line X on the mechanical deck 21 are formed vertically on the lower end side of the small cassette guides 39 at positions deviated inward from the opposed faces 39a so as to be integral with the small cassette guides 39.
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the small-size tape cassette 12 is inserted between the pair of small cassette guides 39 in the direction of arrow e, and the center of the small-size tape cassette 12 in the right-left direction is positioned on the vertical reference line Y by the small cassette guides 39. At the same time, a pair of parallel stopper insertion grooves 12b (arranged in the right-left direction) formed at right and left ends of the front end 12a of the small-size tape cassette 12 are inserted into the pair of small cassette stoppers 46 in the direction of arrow e, and the front end 12a of the small-size tape cassette 12 is positioned on the horizontal reference line X by the pair of small cassette stoppers 46. One of the small cassette stoppers 46 releases a lock lever of the opening/closing lid 16 of the small-size tape cassette 12.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the large-size tape cassette 11 is inserted between the pair of side plates 34b of the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow e, and the center of the large-size tape cassette 11 in the right-left direction is positioned on the vertical reference line Y. At the same time, the front end 11a of the large-size tape cassette 11 butts against the pair of large cassette stoppers 38 (arranged in the right-left direction) in the direction of arrow e, and the front end 11a is positioned on the horizontal reference line X. A lock lever of the opening/closing lid 16 of the large-size tape cassette 11 is released by an upright piece that is erected on the bottom plate 34.
As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B and 4A-4B, a cassette pressing member 48 is disposed horizontally at such a position as to traverse the pair of small cassette guides 39 and deviate to the top plate 34c which bridges the right and left side plates 34b. The cassette pressing member 48 is attached to the cassette holder 34 between the right and left side plates 34b so as to be rotatable in the directions of arrows m and n through a pair of fulcrum pins 49 (arranged in the right-left direction). The cassette pressing member 48 is rotationally urged in the cassette pressing direction of arrow m by a pair of tension coil springs 50 (urging means; arranged in the right-left direction).
In the above-configured cassette container to which the present invention is not applied, the small-size tape cassette 12 is mounted in the following manner. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 3A-3B, the small-size tape cassette 12 that is oriented vertically with its front end 12a down is inserted, in the direction of arrow e, into the approximately central (in the right-left direction) portion of the cassette holder 34 that is located at the cassette input/output position P.sub.1, and further inserted between the pair of small cassette guides 39. Further, while the small-size tape cassette 12 is pressed against the bottom plate 34a in a parallel manner by the cassette pressing member 48 which is rotationally urged in the direction of arrow m by the tension coil springs 50, the small-size tape cassette 12 is inserted in the direction of arrow e deep into the cassette holder 34 to the insertion reference position where it abuts against the pair of small cassette stoppers 46 of the pair of small cassette guides 39 and is thereby stopped. When completion of the insertion of the small-size tape cassette 12 into the cassette holder 34 is detected by a sensor that is attached to the cassette holder 34, the pair of reel bases 22 on the mechanical deck 21 are instantaneously moved in the directions of arrows a as shown in FIG. 5, whereby the interval between the reel bases 22 is automatically adjusted to the small interval L.sub.1 suitable for the small-size tape cassette 12.
After the completion of the insertion of the small-size tape cassette 12, the door 36 is pushed by a finger in the direction of arrow d as shown in FIG. 1B, whereby the cassette holder 34 is pressed (translated) in the direction of arrow d from the cassette input/output position P.sub.1 to the cassette mounting position P.sub.2 within the outer case 2 through the opening 3. Thus, the small-size tape cassette 12 is mounted on the mechanical deck 21 as shown in FIG. 5. At the cassette mounting position P.sub.2, the cassette holder 34 is automatically locked on the mechanical deck 21 by a lock mechanism. During the cassette mounting operation, the door 36 is slid with respect to the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow f, to close the opening 3 of the outer case 2. At this time, as a result of the insertion of the cassette holder 34 to the cassette mounting position P.sub.2, the opening/closing lid 16 of the small-size tape cassette 12 is opened in the direction of arrow o by a lid opening/closing member, to enable the magnetic tape 14 in the small-size tape cassette 12 to be pulled out downward from the central opening 15. In removing the small-size tape cassette 12, the lock of the cassette holder 34 on the mechanical deck 21 is canceled upon depression of the ejection button. Then, as shown in FIG. 1A, as described above, the cassette holder 34 is popped up (translated) in the direction of arrow c by the pop-up mechanism from the cassette mounting position P.sub.2 to the cassette input/output position P.sub.1 through the opening 3. Further, as described above, the door 36 is slid with respect to the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow e, whereby the cassette input/output mouth 35 of the cassette holder 34 is opened widely.
The large-size tape cassette 11 is mounted in the following manner. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 4A-4B, the large-size tape cassette 11 that is oriented vertically with its front end 11a down is inserted, in the direction of arrow e, between the right and left side plates 34b of the cassette holder 34 that is located at the cassette input/output position P.sub.1. Further, while the large-size tape cassette 11 is pressed against the bottom plate 34a in a parallel manner by the cassette pressing member 48, the large-size tape cassette 11 is inserted in the direction of arrow e deep into the cassette holder 34 to the insertion reference position where it abuts against the pair of large cassette stoppers 38 and is thereby stopped. At this time, a bottom face 11b of the large-size tape cassette 11 goes onto the slant faces 44 and then the top faces of the pair of small-cassette guides, whereby the pair of small cassette guides 39 escape, i.e., lower in the direction of arrow d to the side of the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a against the leaf springs 40. Thus, the large-size tape cassette 11 passes over the pair of small cassette guides 39 and is inserted in the direction of arrow e. When completion of the insertion of the large-size tape cassette 11 into the cassette holder 34 is detected by the sensor that is attached to the cassette holder 34, the pair of reel bases 22 on the mechanical deck 21 are instantaneously moved in the directions of arrows b as shown in FIG. 6, whereby the interval between the reel bases 22 is automatically adjusted to the large interval L.sub.2 suitable for the large-size tape cassette 11.
After the completion of the insertion of the large-size tape cassette 11, as described above, the door 36 is pushed by a finger in the direction of arrow d as shown in FIG. 2B, whereby the cassette holder 34 is pressed (translated) in the direction of arrow d from the cassette input/output position P.sub.1 to the cassette mounting position P.sub.2 within the outer case 2 through the opening 3. Thus, the large-size tape cassette 11 is mounted on the mechanical deck 21 as shown in FIG. 6. The opening/closing lid 16 of the large-size tape cassette 11 is opened in the direction of arrow o by the lid opening/closing member, and the opening 3 of the outer case 2 is closed by the door 36 that has been slid in with respect to the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow f. In removing the large-size tape cassette 11, as shown in FIG. 2A, as described above, upon depression of the ejection button the cassette holder 34 is popped up (translated) in the direction of arrow c by the pop-up mechanism from the cassette mounting position P.sub.2 to the cassette input/output position P.sub.1 through the opening 3. At the same time, as described above, the door 36 is slid with respect to the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow e, whereby the cassette input/output mouth 35 of the cassette holder 34 is opened widely.
In the above-configured cassette container to which the invention is not applied, as shown in FIG. 7, to adjust the interval between the pair of reel bases 22 to the small interval L.sub.1 for the small-size tape cassette 12 or the large interval L.sub.2 for the large-size tape cassette 11, the pair of reel bases 22 are reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b by causing them to make symmetrical circular movements about the pair of brake drums 26. On the other hand, since the front end 12a and the center in the right-left direction of the small-size tape cassette 12 are positioned at the insertion reference positions on the horizontal and vertical reference lines X and Y, respectively, on the bottom plate 34a of the cassette holder 34, the installation area of the pair of small cassette guides 39 on the bottom plate 34a is restricted. As indicated by chain lines in FIG. 7, since the pair of small cassette guides 39 are disposed right over the pair of brake drums 26, the brake drums 26 obstruct the small cassette guides 33 when the cassette holder 34 lowers to the cassette mounting position P.sub.2.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, when the small-size tape cassette 12 is inserted into the cassette holder 34, it is desired that the pair of stopper insertion grooves 12b be smoothly engaged with the small cassette stoppers 46 of the pair of small cassette guides 39 in the direction of arrow e and that the front end 12a of the small-size tape cassette 12 be correctly positioned on the horizontal reference line x by the pair of small cassette stoppers 46. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, when the large-size tape cassette 11 is inserted into the cassette holder 34, it is desired that the bottom face 11b of the large-size tape cassette 11 cause the pair of small cassette guides 39 to smoothly escape to the side of the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a. To these ends, as shown in FIG. 11B, it is preferable that each of the small cassette guides 39 be set so as to be inclined from the bottom plate 34a along the cassette inserting direction of arrow e to have an elevation angle .theta..sub.1 in the state that the pair of small cassette guides 39 are protruded to the side of the top face 34a' of the bottom plate 34a in the direction of arrow c by the height H.sub.1.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 10-12, each of leaf springs 40 which are arranged symmetrically at the right and left positions to support the pair of small cassette guides 39 is usually configured such that a front leaf spring portion 40a and a rear leaf spring portion 40b for supporting a front portion 39A and a rear portion 39B of each small cassette guide 39, respectively (the terms "front" and "rear" are defined in the cassette inserting direction of arrow e) extend from a base portion 40c to become two branches. The base portion 40c is fixed to the bottom face 39c of the associated small cassette guide 39 by welding or the like, while free end portions 40d and 40e as outside end portions of the front and rear leaf spring portions 40a and 40b, respectively, are fixed to the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a by means of the pair of caulking pins 41. If the front and rear leaf spring portions 40a and 40b are simply given the same width W.sub.1 and length L.sub.3, they have the same resilient force. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 11A-11B and 12, the leaf spring 40 causes the associated small cassette guide 39 to be translated in the directions of arrows c and d between the top face 34a' side and the bottom face side 34a" of bottom plate 34a of the cassette holder 34 while maintaining the slanted posture with the elevation angle .theta..sub.1. In this structure in which each small cassette guide 39 is translated in the directions of arrows c and d while maintaining the slanted posture with the elevation angle .theta..sub.1, a movement stroke S.sub.1 of the front portion 39A and the rear portion 39B becomes two to three times longer than a thickness T.sub.1 of the small cassette guide 39.
As a result, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 11B, the height H.sub.2 becomes very large which is an escape margin for the event that the large-size tape cassette 11 causes the small cassette guides 39 to escape to the side of the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a of the cassette holder 34 in the direction of arrow d, requiring a large interval between the bottom plate 34a and the mechanical deck 21 as explained below. The pair of brake drums 26 as obstacles are disposed right under the pair of small cassette guides 39 that escape to the side of the bottom face 34a" of the bottom plate 34a. A minimum clearance (escape margin) H.sub.3 necessary to prevent the stopper pieces 45 and the front portions 39A from contacting (interfering with) the top portions of the brake drums 26 and an absolute height H.sub.4 of the brake drums 26 with respect to the mechanical deck 21 need to be secured between the small cassette guides 39 and the mechanical deck 21. Therefore, the interval S.sub.2, which is calculated as S.sub.2 =H.sub.2 +H.sub.3 +H.sub.4, is made large by the height (escape margin) H.sub.2. The interval S.sub.2 is an important factor in thinning the video tape recorder 4. That is, a large interval H.sub.2 causes a problem that the video tape recorder 4 is made thick.